This disclosure relates generally to stripping optical fiber coatings and more particularly to methods and apparatuses for non-contact stripping of optical fiber coatings.
Optical fibers are useful in a wide variety of applications, including the telecommunications industry for voice, video, and data transmissions. In a telecommunications system that uses optical fibers, there are typically many locations where fiber optic cables that carry the optical fibers connect to equipment or other fiber optic cables. To conveniently provide these connections, fiber optic connectors are often provided on the ends of fiber optic cables. The process of terminating individual optical fibers from a fiber optic cable is referred to as “connectorization.” Connectorization can be done in a factory, resulting in a “pre-connectorized” or “pre-terminated” fiber optic cable, or the field (e.g., using a “field-installable” fiber optic connector).
A ferrule bore typically has a size that is only slightly larger than a “bare” optical fiber to provide the fixed positional relationship mentioned above. The term “bare” is used because optical fibers, which are often glass, are normally surrounded by one or more protective coatings/layers. For example, many glass optical fibers include one or more polymer coatings (e.g., acrylic) for moisture protection. Thus, removal of polymer coating(s) is typically required prior to inserting a glass optical fiber into a ferrule bore, regardless of where installation occurs or the type of connector used for connectorization. For field installations, an inherently accurate and robust coating stripping tool can be of particular importance because the technicians or operators making the installations may have varying amounts of relevant training or experience.
Various processes of stripping optical fibers are known, including mechanical stripping, chemical stripping, hot-gas stripping, and laser stripping. Each of these techniques presents its own challenges. For example, mechanical stripping includes physically removing material from a coated optical fiber with one or more blades. The blades have the potential to cause flaws in the bare optical fibers and reduce their tensile strengths.
Regarding the other methods mentioned above, chemical stripping uses chemicals to dissolve material intended to be removed, but the chemicals may require extensive safety measures and procedures to protect the environment. Hot-gas stripping uses a heated jet of gas (e.g., nitrogen or air) to melt and remove material, which can be difficult to control and may result in considerable debris. Laser stripping involves using one or more laser beams to vaporize or ablate material, but can require complex and expensive equipment to distribute the laser energy around the optical fiber in a desired manner.